Average retail pump prices for fuel went in different directions this week, according to data tacked by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), with diesel continuing to decrease while gasoline reversed course and increased.
The national average for diesel dropped by 3.5 cents this week to $2.831 per gallon, the agency said; a $1.12 cheaper per gallon compared to the same week in 2014.
The only uptick in diesel occurred in New England, EIA noted, where prices jumped one penny to $3.028 per gallon. New England is also one of only three regions in the country where diesel remains above the $3 per gallon mark, with the others being the Central Atlantic (down 3.7 cents this week to $3.041) and California (down 6.3 cents to $3.027).
The West Coast recorded the biggest one-week dip in diesel prices this week, falling 5.6 cents to $2.886 per gallon. With California removed from the mix, diesel declined 4.7 cents to $2.716 per gallon on the West Coast – the cheapest price for diesel in the nation this week, according to EIA’s numbers.
By contrast, the national average for gasoline jumped 2.4 cents to $2.086 per gallon, the agency report, though that price is $1.224 cheaper per gallon versus the same week in 2014.
Gasoline prices increased 9.3 cents in the Midwest to $2.029 per gallon and one penny along the Gulf Coast to $1.860 per gallon, though the Gulf Coast still remains home to the cheapest gasoline in the U.S., the EIA noted.
The Rocky Mountain area – sporting a 6/10ths of a penny decline to $1.867 per gallon – joins the Gulf Coast as the only regions in the U.S. where gasoline averages below the $2 per gallon mark, the agency said.
The biggest one-week dip in average gasoline pump prices occurred in New England, EIA added, falling 2.1 cents to $2.145 per gallon.
